This invention relates to vehicle-ceiling television with antenna and disc player options.
With known vehicle-ceiling televisions, passengers are limited to broadcast transmission. They do not have a selection of multiple features such as digital video disc players and game-playing capacity arranged conveniently and are not attachable to a vehicle in a manner taught by this invention.
Examples of a known related but different vehicle-ceiling televisions are described in the following patent documents. U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,055, issued to Rosen on Aug. 31, 1999 described a display unit having a planar screen that was downwardly pivotal from a thin planar ceiling frame but did not have a digital video disk player nor an FM transmitter from an onboard receiver as taught by this invention. U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,784, issued to Vitito on Jul. 27, 1999 described a two-piece overhead console different from the single-piece overhead console and not having a digital-video-disk player as taught by this invention. Various known design patents depict slim and artistic car-ceiling units but do not teach a digital video disk player in combination with a downwardly pivotal TV screen, such as U.S. design Pat. No. 413,856, issued to Scribner on Sep. 14, 1999, U.S. Design Pat. No. 410,464 issued to Hakoda on Jun. 1, 1999, and 371,357 issued to Nakamura on Jul. 2, 1996.
In light of limitations of present vehicle-ceiling television, objects of patentable novelty and utility taught by this invention are to provide a vehicle-ceiling TV in combination with disc-recorded video games, movies and education in addition to lighting that is variable between high for reading and low for minimal vision.
This invention accomplishes these and other objectives with a thin TV ceiling mount having a front edge from which a flat screen pivots adjustably downward from a stowage space and having a rear edge with a digital video disc (DVD) slot. The mount is preferably oval-shaped with a major length of about fifteen inches and a major width of about eight inches. Thickness is about one-to-three inches, depending on type and plurality of components it uses. Intermediate the stowage space and the DVD slot are dome lights that preferably are adjustable for reading brightness and a rearward-facing control panel that preferably has pushbutton control and is backlit. Audiovisual signaling may be received selectively from broadcasting sources and from the DVD player and transmitted to a speaker and to the flat screen as controlled by a control unit. An FM transmitter is employed to enhance sound received from audio characteristics of the audiovisual signaling and transmitted to a vehicle component, such as a speaker.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention should become even more readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings wherein there is shown and described illustrative embodiments of the invention.